The Faceless Ones Return
by Twiggy Otaku
Summary: Erika and Becca become caught up in the world of Skulduggery Pleasant after witnessing a murder that leaves Erika with a mysterious pendant that she can't remove. Erika hearing voices and Becca's unexplained disappearances are just the beginning...
1. Chapter 1

"No…don't‼"

She ran helplessly through the pitch black forest, the passing trees could be felt but not seen. Leaves crunching beneath worn out sneakers as her tried feet pounded against the damp ground in a steady beat, the same beat of her thrashing heart. She could hear them closing in behind her, the tears in her eyes only adding to her panic, the air around her started to thin out as the minutes passed like hours. She had to get out of the forest if she wanted to live.

The terrifying growl, the screeching screams, the deafening horror was closing in at an alarming rate, and she could hear them getting louder with every second. She was running in minutes. How the creatures were able to move so quickly was unbelievable, their rotting forms should have collapsed on itself but instead they were stronger than humans, and they were smarter.

Her legs began to ache as gravity weighed down on her, she knew she wasn't going to be able to last much longer and then those things were going to get her. Tears mixed with sweat as she fell against the tree gulping down lungful's of air, her heavy breathing forming white clouds, she needed an escape now. Then she saw it, off in the distance, the faint outline of a house, of her sanctuary, so close she could feel the air returning to her lungs. She took off with a new found energy straight towards the building, she was safe and so she could let relief flood her face. The cold brass knob twisted welcoming beneath her grasp and the door swung open with ease. The creatures moan and picked up their pace right behind her but the door was slammed shut in time.

Safe.

Tears of freedom emptied in between gasps of joy, she didn't have to run anymore, she could rest and call for help. She turned away from the door to observe her sanctuary and right into the face of torn flesh and yellow teeth. The stench of a thousand corpses wafted onto her face as the creature smirked at her. It attacked immediately, biting at the soft fresh flesh while all she could do was scream out her pain.

"Dumb bitch, I knew there was one in that house," popcorn was shoved into the shaking head, "seriously, you're running from zombies and then there is a random little cottage, there's bound to be one in there waiting for you. Oh! The door broke down and now their feasting on her spleen."

"Shut up and turn it off already."

"Aww don't be a baby. Look at the blood, it's orange."

"Turn it off!"

"Fine, fine. Wuss."

The television was switched off and the screaming girl vanished with it. A small sigh of relief was heard as a head of chestnut hair bobbed out of the dark blue blanket, "I freaking hate zombie movies, I though you said you were going to get a good movie."

"It is a good movie," the golden ponytail shook with laughter as she picked up the movie case, "look Erika it's not even R rated."

"That's because you're covering the 'R' up with your thumb."

"You're still baby."

Erika punched her friend as hard as she could, a playful pout sat beneath the hazel eyes, "And you're an ass. You know I can't sleep well after I see rotting flesh fall from the creamy skull…I'm going to barf."

"Bathroom is that way."

Erika pushed her friend's hand out of the way in annoyance. She instead chose to pull out her cell phone in lack of interest in what was happening around her. Scrolling through her contacts, looking for someone who'd txt her back, and grunted gently, "I'm bored now Becca."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Fix it."

"I could always put the movie back on," sapphire eyes sparkled mischievously as she reached over and clicked the TV back on, "look at the way that zombie is sucking the marrow out of her bones."

"You disgust me."

"You love me."

"I love you like I love my cat."

"It's still love."

"Let's play truth or dare," Erika flicked the television off and sat with her hands planted on her lap, "so truth or dare?"

Becca thought carefully, her friend was a tricky one so she had to pick wisely, "I pick truth."

"Okay…scenario," Erika held up her hands in excitement, "you're walking home by yourself in the middle of the night and you hear someone calling out for help. You don't recognise the voice or where it is coming from so you keep walking but then suddenly the screaming stops and you see a man walk out of a house covered in blood. He nods to you and tells you not to go into the house. He jumps in a car and drives off when you hear the same voice calling out again, it's weaker than before, and it's pleading for help. What do you do?"

"Shit, okay," she thought it over carefully, not wanting to make the wrong choice, "I guess I would go inside and check it out."

"But the guy was covered in blood and warned you, what if her came back and caught you?"

"Well someone could be hurt in there I would have to something in that situation. You're turn, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay, scenario for you. You're in a building and there's zombies pretty much everywhere. They've blocked the exit, so your only options are to take the stairs to the roof or try to fight your way out. What do you do?"

"Did it have to be zombies?"

"Yes now answer."

"Okay, okay," Erika shivered unhappily and wrapped her arms around her blanket covered legs, "I don't think I would be able to stomach fight all the zombies so I would go up the stairs to the roof and hide up there."

"Come on, fight like a man or don't you care about your life that much?"

"Hey. I like my life and I'm not going to let some flesh eating monster take it from me because you told me to grow a pair."

"Fine, it does seem like the better option anyway."

Becca gave a large yawn and scratched her tired head, checking the time to see it was well past twelve o'clock in the morning. She pulled her own blanket up to her chin and stretched out on the fold out couch, Erika doing the same not long after. She shivered in the warmth and switched off the night, "Good night Erika."

"Night Becca."

"Don't let the zombies get ya."

"You suck."


	2. Chapter 2

Birds chirped evilly as the two friends woke from their short sleep, seeing that it was only half past six made them groan loudly and roll in opposite direction. Trying to hide from the morning sun. However that didn't stop the pounding of little feet running along the corridors just outside the lounge doors. Becca slowly pulled herself off the bed, her black sweat pants and boyfriend's ACDC t-shirt acting as her pyjamas for that night, and crossed to the door, opening it slowly to reveal a dozen happy faces of five year olds, "Morning guys."

"MORNING MISS BECCA‼"

The sing song chorus always made her smile in the early hours of the morning, one of the many curses of volunteering at a summer camp for children in primary school. She adjusted her pants to a more comfortable position before getting back to the kids, "Why aren't you in the dining hall already for breakfast?"

"We came to wake you and Miss Erika up," a small girl with shoulder length red hair and black rimmed glasses bounced excitedly, "you're taking us horse riding today."

"Yes, yes we know but you can't go riding unless you eat first. We'll see you at the stables okay?"

"YES MISS BECCA."

They bustled off again, running to feed their faces, leaving Becca to turn back to her still sleepy friend, "You heard the kids, we're riding horses today."

"Yeah I heard, man why did we sign up for this again?" Erika dived under her blanket and cringed at the thought of getting up to ride horses.

Becca just grabbed the blanket and ripped it from the tiny frame, laughing as her friend began to cry in a small ball, "Get dressed otherwise you can ride the Grey Beast."

"Not the Grey Beast."

"Yes the Grey Beast."

"Ugh, last time I rode that thing I nearly broke a hip," Erika rolled off the bed in her own purple boxers and oversized plain black t-shirt, "I don't know why that thing is still even alive, they should turn it into glue or dog food already."

"You're pleasant."

"I am indeed, I bags the shower first."


	3. Chapter 3

Several high pitched neighs only added to the sound of screaming children as the group of about twelve children were led to the stables by their two teenaged supervisors. The two eighteen year olds were both dressed in boot legged jeans, with black flat boots, but different tops. Becca wore a light blue sleeveless top that she tucked into her pants while Erika wore a yellow dress with thin straps. Both had their hair out, Becca's golden mane ending at her waist while Erika's chestnut ended just shorter than that. Erika was a whole head shorter than Becca and generally looked younger because of her petite stature but that didn't stop the girls from being close friends.

Finally arrived at their destination the girl lined up the kids and gave them the safety run down, what they were doing, how to put the helmets on, who was following who and the rest. Becca remained at the back of the group on her black stallion while Erika was in front of the group on her chestnut mare. Excited squabbles were easily calmed as the group was led down the winding trail in the forest, the grass parted from the repetitive use if the horses going backwards and forwards. Crushed ferns showed the same boring scene that the girls had witnessed ever since they started working at the camp at the beginning of summer, but that was nearly over now. Erika took in a deep breath, loving the fresh air, and looked over her shoulder, "We're just about at the stream so we can have lunch."

A chorus of cheers screamed out from behind her as the starving children heard their favourite word 'lunch'. It didn't take long to reach the glistening stream and after tying up the horses everyone got stuck in to their individual lunches, the sounds of chip packets and glad wrap drowning out the sounds of nature. Becca took a long breath in, enjoying the natural-ish peace, "Hey Erika, isn't life great."

"If you want some cuddly heart-to-heart talk then go find someone else."

"I'm just saying that it's nice to just sit back and enjoy life for once."

"Yeah but we've got school again in a few days," Erika took a large bite out of her apple and munched through her sentence, "Ish not sho goo."

"You're setting a bad example for the kids."

"Oo baf."

"Swallow and then speak."

Erika's apple disappeared and a smirk appeared in its place, "Wise words, you should take your own advice."

"Get your mind out of the gutter."

"But I like it in the gutter."

A high pitched whine escaped one of the children as she was knocked over by two of the wrestling boys; unfortunately she was knocked into the horse dubbed as the Grey Beast. The creature gave a small buck and broke from its restraints, galloping off into nowhere and leaving the two oldest girls to groan loudly. After all they had to retrieve the lost animal and they hated that one.

Erika opened her cell phone and immediately pressed redial, "Hey the horse ran away and Becca and I are going after it. They kids are at the pond so we'll see you back at the camp, later."

She jumped on her horse and started after the Grey Beast, Becca quickly telling the kids, "Stay here until another councillor comes," before following her friend into the forest. The two galloped after the wild beast for the fourth time since they began working at the summer camp, it was annoying and repetitive. Tracks began to slow down as they finally caught the beast lazing under the shadow of a large tree. The duo got off their horses and quickly wrapped its neck up in ropes and began to lead it back to the pond, they didn't even realised what they had stumbled upon until it was too late.

"YOU IDIOT‼"

The screeching voice set the horses off again, this time leaving the riders behind altogether. A small trinket flew out of nowhere and landed on Erika's spinning head, "huh?" she picked it up, a pure crystal with two black snakes twisting up the body that had ruby eyes all held together on a small silver chain. She fingered it gently before sighing, "It's gorgeous."

"But not yours."

"You're right; I guess I'll give it back."

They set of in the sound of the scream, believing that the necklace belonged to whoever it was. Their journey was cut very short however when they heard a blood curdling screech followed by blood splattering through the trees. They ducked down and into different hiding places, Erika in a small hole under a tree and Becca inside of a nearby bush, quick enough that when bloody boots came stomping through they didn't notice the two girls. Paralyzed with fear neither of the girls could find the will to move even after the boots had vanished, but they soon stood up to find out what happened and immediately threw up at the sight of an undistinguishable body that had been torn to shreds.

Time flew by and the two remained in the same spot beneath the bloodied trees as the sun set and the moon rose. Blood glistening underneath the starry skies kept the girls from moving; they couldn't pry themselves away from the gruesome scene no matter how much they willed to leave. It wasn't long before midnight when the two had been found by curious councillors who rang the police and led the girls away. Res and blue lights flashed as the police closed in on the scene, unable to question the shaken girls without getting more than grunts or whimpers. Wrapped in blankets and given cups of soothing tea the girls sat quietly on a camp bench, Becca reaching over and holding her smaller friend's hand, "We're okay."

"That man…he must've killed the other one," Erika shook uncontrollably, the cup nearly breaking beneath her grasp, "why didn't we see his face?"

"Cause then we could've died."

"Becca…"

"Yeah?"

"I still have the necklace."

They felt the small trinket in their holding hands, Becca nodded gently, "You should put it on."

"What, why?"

"It'll look better on you," she eyed the cops and whispering councillors, lowering her voice to a mere whisper, "we're probably automatic suspects because we were at the scene of the crime, we should keep a low profile from now on and if we mention the necklace it's got your prints all over it. I'll be damned if I see you go to jail over something that isn't your fault."

"Okay," Erika put it on, it felt surprisingly warm against her skin, "I'll wear it and always remember how much you care for me."

"You're so cute."

"So are you."

They hugged tightly and finally began to calm down; nothing was going to shake them any more than they had tonight. The best part being that they got to go home and got double pay.


	4. Chapter 4

The school bell tolled across the busying courtyard, catching the attention of everyone who stood around in the uniformed navy pencil skit and white blouses, and ignored by the most senior of students who were too busy discussing their exploits from the summer holiday. Erika and Becca stood on the outside, not wanting to share, and just occasionally nodded at whoever was talking. Erika began to play with the little necklace that was thrown at her and remembered the scene, no longer frightened by it but still as curious as before, "I wonder what they did…"

"Wonder what who did?" Becca was too drawn in by the latest gossip but understood her in the end, "Oh right, I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"I know but you can't help but wonder right?"

"I guess, it must've been pretty serious."

"Or some creepy Physco."

"I've never been happier to be at school."

"HEY YOU‼" one of the many teachers poked their head out the classroom window at the girls who stayed in their collective little group, "GET TO CLASS RIGHT NOW! DON'T MAKE ME COME OUT THERE‼"

They dispersed quickly, being all in the same class it was easy enough to make the typical excuse…

"We carpooled Miss and it broke down, sorry we're late."

Giggles came out from different corners of the classroom, another ordinary school day for another class of ordinary school girls. The ordinary maths lesson unsurprisingly was completely boring and repetitive so the girls began to drift off work, drawing pictures in text books or txting other classmates down the side of their desk. Then a small knock on the door interrupted the lesson-going-nowhere and the principal walked in without any need for an introduction, gaining everyone's attention immediately as he raised his hand, "Becca and Erika, grab your bags and come with me."

A wave of whispers began as the two took their time collecting their things and following the senile man out the door. Neither knew what to expect as they were led to separate classrooms, Becca giving a small wave to her friend as they were separated. Erika went straight in and sat at the only desk in the strangely dark classroom, she began to play with the necklace out of boredom and confusion. She didn't know what she had to get into trouble, stopping as soon as she heard the door open. A tall man dressed in a very well-tailored dark suit strode in and sat comfortably in the chair opposite hers. He gave a small tip of the hat and a wide smile, "Hi there, I'm Detective Inspector Me, and you are?"

Erika gave a courteous smile, "I'm Myself, Myself And-I."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that together we are Detective Inspector Me, Myself And-I."

"You do realise that it is a crime to make fun of cop."

"You're not a cop."

"Yes I am."

"Then where is your badge?"

"I don't need one."

"Because you're not a cop."

"No because I am a Detective Inspector, we don't need badges."

"Well then I am going to need to see some form of I.D. Mr Me."

He leaned forwards on his elbows, a curious gleam in his eye even though he wasn't looking at her face, "Whatever for Miss Myself?"

"If you really aren't a cop, which I think is very likely, then I would be giving out private information to a complete stranger."

"Smart girl, but what if I don't ask you any personal questions?" She shrugged it off so he continued without fault, "Have you seen any strange happenings or people lately?"

"Well…"

"Yes?"

"There is this one really weird guy who talked to me recently…"

"Go on."

"He's really tall, brown hair, brown eyes, dresses very formal and has this stupid looking hat…"

"A name. I need a name."

"Detective Inspector Me."

"Very funny…"

"How did you even get into this school? You don't sound like you're from around here."

His velvety voice gave a small chuckle, pointing calmly at her necklace, "Mind telling me where you got that from?"

Erika grabbed onto the trinket instinctively, "You didn't answer my question."

"You're not answering mine."

"I asked you first."

"I'm a cop."

"You're creepy."

"Never heard that one before."

The door opened once more, this time a pretty girl clad in black walked in, "Detective Inspector Me, I'm not getting anything out of the other one."

"See now that is where you're lacking, I have gotten a lot of information out of our little friend over here."

"Who are you calling little?" Erika pouted.

"You see," he pointed again at her hand on her necklace, "she is holding that necklace protectively because she is afraid to let someone get it, the way her hand is shaking indicates that she's afraid she will be in trouble if she loses it and not that she has an emotional attachment to it. She is consistently back talking and picking out my flaws, not that I have any of course, because she is trying to keep me from getting into her head but that is impossible. All in all she is hiding something and doing everything in her power to stop me from getting to it."

Erika sat frozen, the guy had to be a cop with those analysis skills, everything came spilling out at once, "We didn't do anything, Becca and I were just trying to get the stupid horse back and then the man yelled and this fell of my head and then he came walking towards us but we hid so he didn't see us and then we got up and then we saw the body and it was torn up and gross and blood and we couldn't move and then the cops came and then I had to put this on because otherwise we would go to jail under suspicion of murder and then we went home and then school started and now we're here and I forgot to breathe…"

"Wow," the girl stared at her as she took in large amounts of oxygen, more shocked at the fact that she spilled everything so fast, "so you, ah…you?"

"Erika."

"Erika, you and your friend Becca aren't actually in trouble, we were just here about that necklace of yours."

"Huh? I can't take it off."

"You have horrible people skills, watch and learn," the man got out of the chair and held his hand out with the large smile still planted on his face, "all we need is that necklace and then we'll be on our way, you can get back to your life like none of this ever happened."

"But I can't take it off, really, I've tried but it won't come off."

"Well that isn't good, one moment Erika," he left the room with the girl dressed in black, their mumbles were inaudible from inside the room. Erika began to tug at the necklace again, trying to get it off so she could give it to the detective and get back to her life, but just like before it wouldn't budge it just sat perfectly around her neck, the snake eyes sparkling up at her like they were alive.

"_You should leave right now…"_

Erika spun around, the voice was so quiet and airy it sounded so distance but so close, "Becca?"

"_Run, that man is no good. He wants to separate us. Run."_

"What? Who's there? I'm going nuts‼"

"_You have been chosen, you should run now. Get to Ireland, go to Ireland."_

The door opened and the whispery voice went silent, was it the voices in her head? Detective Inspector Me returned with both Becca and his friend in tow, he indicated for Becca to sit before looking at both of the girls, "You didn't see the man who had that necklace?"

"No."

"We were too busy hiding."

"So he didn't see you?"

"Uh-uh."

"Like I said, we were hiding."

"Good, now listen carefully," he pulled out a small piece of paper and pushed it towards the girls, "this is my number, if anyone asks you about that necklace call me right away. Don't give anyone your name or any information about yourself you just call me okay?"

"Why?"

"We don't trust you."

"Erika, Becca," he's normally light voice dropped completely, it was so serious it frightened them, "you will call me if someone asks you about that necklace and neither of you will give your names to anyone. Do you understand?" They nodded, not knowing why they suddenly felt so compelled to do what the man said, and his voice went light again, "Good girls. We'll see you later, don't forget to call."

They waited until the duo had gone before putting the number into their cell phones and Erika voiced her concern, "Becca, I'm going crazy."

"Why?"

"I'm hearing these weird voices and they're telling me to go to Ireland."

"Ireland? Maybe you just desperately want a vacation, to a cold, damp, grey place where everyone drinks themselves silly. Sounds reasonable."

"Whatever, I'm just tired," she finished typing in the number and sat back in the chair, "wanna ditch the rest of school?"

"Hells yes, let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

"_Go to Ireland, you need to go to Ireland."_

"Shut up you stupid voice, I've had just about enough of you."

"_Why aren't you in Ireland? You need to go to…"_

"Ireland! Yes I heard you," Erika slammed her pillow on top of her head and began to roll side to side, "so just shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up."

"ERIKA! STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF YOU WIERDO‼"

"SHUT UP DICK‼" she screamed at her older brother, her head was already pounding as it was she didn't need him to make it worse. Ever since Detective Inspector Me showed up the necklace had been speaking to her and it was driving her crazy, the voice had grown louder too which didn't help at all. She took a deep breath in and took the pillow off her head, pulling out her cell phone and hitting redial, "Becca? Its back…"

"Already? Jeez Erika I'm starting to think that you're really losing it, although I'm not one to talk."

"Huh?" Erika sat up worried, earlier that week Becca had disappeared during school and suddenly returned five minutes later completely freaked out saying that she had gone to a place where everyone looked like zombies and they chased her screaming gibberish, "where did you go this time?"

"There was this place where everything was over lava but luckily I landed with a group of people but they screamed and ran away from me, but there was something else…"

"What?"

"I kinda accidently took my neighbour's cat with me and when I felt sick, like when I was about to go there, I went to grab it but grabbed some guy's toupee…"

"So you have a toupee and they have a cat?"

"Yes."

"Man that's screwed up."

"Agreed."

"What's happening to us Becca? Ever since that time at camp…"

"We agreed that we would never speak of that again."

"But it's the truth; maybe we should call Detective Inspector Me."

"He's not even from New Zealand, he sounded kind of Irish."

"_Go to Ireland. Go to Ireland."_

"SHUT UP ALREADY‼"

"I'm sorry?"

"No it's this stupid necklace, it's driving me insane. Look I'm coming around to your house before my brother starts yelling at me again."

"See you in ten."

She hung up and got off the bed, pulling a light pink hoodie on that hung loosely over her skinny jeans and tied up her sneakers, and quickly left her room. Her mother didn't even look up from grading papers and just waved as Erika opened the front door and left. Her family consisted of herself, her mother, to older brother and sister and her younger brother, but they all had different things happening at the same time when school started so everyone was busy. Her sister was into socialising every day, her older brother starting University, her younger brother fully involved in sports and her mother being a high school teacher meant that her family kept to themselves a lot. She breathed in the fresh air and plugged her I-Pod, playing 'Pocket Full Of Sunshine' and humming along as she skipped down the road. It wasn't until she was out of her street that she noticed the van tailing her, shivers running down her spine.

"_She has it, oh boy am I going to get back in Kanes' books."_

This voice was new, it wasn't the whispery snake voices anymore, and it sounded like a distant man. The van quickly pulled up beside her, not pulling over just slowing to her pace, and the window rolled down revealing a happy looking man with short sandy hair, his voice was the same as the one she heard in her head, "Hey there, I'm a little lost can you help?"

Erika pulled out her headphones and looked behind her, the park was empty because it was supposed to rain and the van couldn't follow her that way, "Where are you heading?"

"I'm trying to find the train station."

"Oh, just down the road, turn left at the lights…"

"See I'm not going to remember all of this, you should hop in and show me."

"I don't think I should…"

"Of course, stranger danger and all that," he laughed coldly, his eyes were focused solely on her neck, "what's your name?"

"Ah…" she fingered her cell phone, she had to call the detective, "Would you give me a moment? My phone is ringing."

"I don't hear anything."

"It's on vibrate, excuse me," she backed up but didn't turn away, pulling out her cell phone and skilfully getting the detective on speed dial while making it look like she was answering her phone, "Hello?"

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Oh hi mum, yeah I'm just heading over to…Suzie's."

"I'm sorry, who is this?"

"Okay I will, and by the way," she backed up a bit more, preparing to run, as the man grew impatient and began to pull over, "there's this guy…"

"_Little bitch, I guess I'll just have to grab her."_

"Is this Erika or Becca?"

"…yeah it's Erika…"

"Run, tell me where you are heading Erika and run."

She turned and sprinted off, thankful for all those years of dancing making her one of the fittest girls at school, the man jumping out and chasing after her, "Um…I'm heading through the park by my house and he's chasing me…" she looked over her shoulder, the man was running now and pulling out a long blade, "oh God he's got a knife, he's got a knife and he's chasing me."

"Erika, listen to me, tell me where you are right now."

"I'm in the park, Cornwall Park, I'm heading towards town."

"I'm not from New Zealand, I don't know where that is Valkyrie," he spoke to someone else with him before returning to the phone, "Where's Becca?"

"At home."

"Okay, keep running and I'll meet you. I'll keep you safe Eri-"

He was cut short as Erika fell over, the man grabbing her leg and forcing her to the ground. She screamed loudly and kicked up at him, missing completely as he grabbed the necklace and tried to pull it off her.

"_It won't come off! I guess this is helpful…"_

"_Go to Ireland, we need to be in Ireland."_

"SHUT UP ALREADY‼" She kicked and hit him in the nuts, giving her enough time to grab her phone and speak into it again while sprinting once more, "Me, Mr Me, I'm scared."

"Keep running Erika," he pulled away from the phone, she heard curses from a girl before he came back, "Okay, I'm not sure where you are but I'll find you okay?"

She groaned loudly and hung up, hitting the only other person on speed dial, "Becca? It's Erika."

"What's up? You sound horrid."

"I'm being chased by a Physco with a knife and the detective guy is useless, I'm terrified and I don't know what to do."

"Okay Erika just breathe, where are you?"

"Cornwall."

"I'm on my way."

The phone line died, Erika putting it away so nothing could distract her from escaping as the man began to close in again.

"_Get back here‼"_

Her phone rang again; she quickly opened it as the road was in sight with a familiar green car speeding her way, "Hello?"

"Erika? Why did you hang up?"

"Shut up you're useless," she hung up again, the man was reaching out for her, the car screeched to a stop and the door swung open. She pushed off her feet and flew in, the car taking off as soon as she slid in, but the man had grabbed the door and his hand was on fire, no longer holding the knife. Erika and Becca both screamed in unison, Erika kicked at him while staring at the flame, terrified. Her kicks were useless. She heard another scream and the car swerved off the road, narrowly missing a little rent-a-car, and back into the empty park. The man was climbing in, hand still alight, so the girls scrambled out the other door and straight into the rent-a-car that had pulled up beside them. The car sped off, leaving the man to scream in frustration and set the car on fire, it blew up seconds later with locals on cell phones obviously calling the police. The two girls began to breathe again once they were well out of sight of the crash, the girl they recognised from the interrogation at school gave them a small wave, "How are you feeling girls?"

"THAT MAN WAS ON FIRE‼"

"HE TRIED TO KILL ME WITH A KNIFE‼"

"So not good then?" she sighed and looked seriously at them, "Anyway you're safe no so there is no need to panic."

"HE BLEW UP MY MOTHER'S CAR‼"

"HE TRIED TO KIDNAP ME‼"

"Erika, Becca, shut up and put on your seat belts," the two fell silent and followed the instructions, sitting to attention as she started again, "my name is Valkyrie Cain; this is my partner Skulduggery Pleasant…"

"Actually Valkyrie is my partner."

"We're kind of cops but not ordinary cops, we're magic cops. See there is a whole magical world beyond the one you know that you've unfortunately fell into understand?" they remained silent but nodded, "Good, now we're taking you back to our hotel room where we can hopefully sort this all out."

The rest of the trip silent, not even the two magic cops speaking to each other. The hotel they went to was run down, broken and abandoned, but the two lead the still quiet girls inside and up to the top room which was the complete opposite to the outside due to magic. Skulduggery pulled off his hat and revealed a shiny skull of white, setting the girls off again.

"Becca we died."

"Indeed we did."

"You're not dead, I'm magic and we will leave it at that for now," he pulled some dusty blankets out of the cupboard and gave them to each girl, "we're here looking for a man named Angle Smith, all you need to know is that he is a very, very bad man. He made that necklace for very bad reasons, we hoped that since he didn't see you that you would be able to keep it hidden from him but it turns out we were wrong."

"Very wrong."

"So wrong you must've lost all your skin."

"Funny, anyway we are going to take you with us to Ireland where we can help sort all of this out so you can get back to your ordinary lives."

"We're not ordinary," Erika ran her hand through her hair as the necklace whispered Ireland to her, Becca turning pale and shaking, "we really aren't normal."

"Oh?"

Becca vanished suddenly when it looked like she was about to sneeze, both Skulduggery and Valkyrie looking in shock (well just Valkyrie since Skulduggery couldn't show any expression). Erika simply rubbed her pounding temples and answered their unspoken question, "Yeah she's been doing that a lot lately, she'll be back in a few minutes. You want to turn the T.V. on?"

"Huh? Sure," Valkyrie turned it one, the news playing distantly as a distraction, "Where exactly does she go?"

"I don't know, it keeps changing. Once it was zombies, then in a volcano, and once all the people barked like dogs."

"Dimensional Shunter that has travelled through different dimensions and lived," Skulduggery turned to his partner, if he had eyes they'd be filled with worry and interest, "alright then, and how are you weird?"

"I've got a necklace that keeps talking to me."

"That is weird."

"Thank you."

A loud gasp was the only indication that Becca had returned, she was soaked to the bone and smelled like the ocean, "My God I saw mermaids."

"She's weirder though."

"Hey Skulduggery, check this out," Valkyrie turned the sound up as the new reporter sat firm and serious.

"In local news, a car crashed just outside of Cornwall Park today, authorities believe that it was a case of near rape, Sandy has more on the story. Sandy?"

"Thanks a Sarah," another reporter stood beside what once was Becca's mother's car, picture of both Becca and Erika appeared beside her, "this is the scene of the tragedy; two local girls who had been spotted in the car, after running screaming away from an armed man, attempted to drive away. Local police believe that the man was trying to rape these girls and since he couldn't get what he wanted when they ran he set the car alight with his lighter. No bodies have been found. Now here with me is police chief…"

Becca forgot all about being wet, everyone just staring at the screen of the officer and the reporter, "Erika, did we just die?"

"After an attempted rape," she too was stunned, everything blown out of proportion, "I have no idea what's going on anymore but I feel dizzy."

"Me too."

Skulduggery and Valkyrie watched silently as the two fainted on each other, obviously the events finally catching up to them. Skulduggery pulled the blankets on them and spun around in a flourish, "Ghastly is going to be happy, there's no mess here to clean up."

"Their families will think they're dead."

"It will be easiest for now, we have to get them to the Sanctuary and checked out. Something isn't right here."

"I've got that 'we have to save the world' feeling."

"You too? Well so much for our vacation in little old New Zealand."


	6. Chapter 6

**A.N. Time to celebrate an end of an era, no more High School for this Twigg. I is all grown up and we're happy, I am very happy. HAVE A NICE LIFE!**

* * *

"I feel stupid."

"You look stupid."

"So do you."

"You both look stupid," Valkyrie sighed, having listened to the two beside her bicker for most of the flight not that she could blame them, "but it was necessary due to what happened on the news."

Erika pushed her overly large sunglasses back onto her face, "Yeah but what happens when this is all over and done with? How do we go back and face our families when they think that we are dead."

Becca nodded in agreement her sun hat flopping over her face, "Do you magic dudes have some way of fixing this?"

"We'll face that problem when we come to it."

"You have no idea what you are doing do you?"

"She doesn't but I do," Skulduggery smirked under his façade, he sat on the aisle seat in case anything happened while they were flying, "you don't have to worry about anything girls except picking a name."

"What's wrong with our names?"

"People can control you with your given name, we talked about this last night. Don't you remember?"

Erika huffed to herself and fixed her falling glasses once more, "I remember you using us and not apologising for it."

"But you remember our discussion?"

"Yes My Pleasant, whatever you say Mr Pleasant."

"You're such a good girl."

"He's an idiot," Erika pulled lightly on Valkyrie's shirt with a hopeless pout on her face, "does he even know what sarcasm is?"

"Yes but he chooses to ignore it when it works for him."

"That's so unfair."

"That's Skulduggery."

"Attention passengers this is your captain speaking," the speaker crackled over the sound of the jets, "we are now preparing to land, please remain seated until the aircraft has landed, thank you."

"_Ireland, we're in Ireland."_

"Shut up you. When can we take this stupid thing off?"

"When we figure out how."

The aircraft landed without any delay, the passengers reuniting with overseas relatives except the four who walked briskly out of the airport not wanting to interact with anyone else. Once they were safely outside both Erika and Becca removed their 'disguises' with a small flourish, thankful to take of the ridiculous accessories, and took a look at their surroundings, Ireland was damp and grey so there really wasn't much to look at. Except one thing, Becca gave a small gasp as she saw the most beautiful creature that had ever walked their planet; she had luscious black hair that danced with a bowing winds, blue eyes deeper than any ocean, the flowing red dress that she wore paled in comparison to her. Becca started towards, she wanted to make the woman notice her, use her, abuse her, she didn't care she just wanted to be noticed.

The woman smiled, her pure white teeth shining through her peachy lips, "Hello there."

"Hi…"

"What's your name?"

"China!"

The conversation ended with Skulduggery's sharp tone, the velvet voice sounding torn and full of rage. He pushed Becca behind him and stared the woman down, "What do you want?"

"I'm here because I'm leaving Ireland to make you happy, is it making you happy?"

"Come on we're going this way," he pulled the restraining Becca away from China, leaving the beautiful woman all alone with a broken look in her eyes. It wasn't until they arrived at the black Bentley with Erika and Valkyrie did he issue another order, "Becca, Erika, neither of you are to wander off on your own again, you must always be where either me and Valkyrie can see you."

"Valkyrie and I," she corrected as she slipped into the passenger seat, "was that China?"

"Yeah."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"As much as I would love to," he started up the car and sped off, his façade slowly dripping back to reveal his emotionless skull, "we have to discuss more important matter."

"Like what?"

"Like how windy it is today."

"Do you really want to talk about the weather?"

"Not entirely."

"So back to China."

"Let's play the quiet game, Erika hold Valkyrie down and Becca you keep her mouth shut."

The girls followed the orders with frowned faces, Valkyrie couldn't break the hold without hurting them so sat in silence and glared death at her close friend. If looks could kill he would have died ten times over.

"Now stay there until we get to the Sanctuary."


	7. Chapter 7

There were so many scrolls. Too many. It was driving Elder Bespoke insane to see so many scrolls lying about his surprisingly unorganised desk, he had always prided himself on being a neat worker but this latest case and thrown him completely off his flow. Angle Smith had been creating trinkets that supposedly could find the location of a portal where the Faceless Ones could be brought back, and since Skulduggery and Valkyrie weren't due back from New Zealand for another week he didn't know who he could turn to. He needed air. Leaving his work behind he wandered through the Sanctuary halls not looking for anything in particular excepts the answers to life. That was all until he spotted the familiar duo heading towards him, "You're back? You're early."

"Something came up," Skulduggery took one look at his friend and stopped walking altogether.

"Like what?"

"How much sleep have you had?"

"What are you trying to hide? Who are they?"

"Who are who?"

"The two girls behind you, who are they?"

"You spotted them?"

"You're a skeleton."

"Really? For how long?"

Ghastly pushed the detective out of the way and looked over the two girls, they looked jet lagged and completely scared out of their wits. It didn't help the fact that the blonde looked like she had just been hung out to dry after a good spin in a whirl pool. The brunette frowned to herself suddenly and clasped onto her necklace, "Can you take this off?"

"They're not from here," Ghastly sighed to himself, why did he ever expect anything less from the detective? "what did you do Skulduggery?"

"So I brought back a couple of souvenirs, I don't see what the big problem is," the skeleton started to walk before he turned around again, "That's right, I found one of the necklaces that Angle made, only difference being we can't get this one off."

"I'm sorry?"

"Watch," Skulduggery grabbed the necklace around the smaller girl's neck, not very gently yanking up and down before letting it flop back down onto her dirty sweater, "It doesn't come off no matter how hard pull, tug, and I even tried cutting it off but even that didn't work."

"That certainly is different, so why did you bring the other…souvenir?"

Valkyrie gave a small wave of her hand, "She's a Dimensional Shunter, we explained most of the magic world to her but since they're both now involved her brought them both here."

"What about their families?"

"Not a problem; one of the henchmen chased them and set their car of fire once we swooped in and saved them, the News said they died."

"And you two had nothing to do with it?"

Skulduggery shook his head, pointed accusingly at brunette, "She hung up on me. Twice."

"In that case I like them," Ghastly held out his hand with a small smile, "welcome to the Sanctuary girls."

The blonde gave a small shiver before looking at Valkyrie, "You promised me showers, I want a shower."

"My neck hurts," the brunette rubbed her sore neck while glaring heavily at Skulduggery, "Why the hell did you have to do that? You could've chocked me."

"I smell like the ocean."

"This stupid thing is screaming in my head."

"I'm tired."

"I'm really hungry."

The two turned to Skulduggery and began to cry in unison, "Fix this, you brought us here so you have to fix it."

"Girls…not in front of Elder Bespoke."

Ghastly just laughed at him, the girls before him were obviously teaching him a lesson. He turned to Valkyrie who was laughing too, "Would you mind if they stayed at Gordon's house?"

"I don't have a problem with it, there's plenty of space and water that still works."

"So that's solved that problem. Have they chosen names?"

"Not yet."

"Actually we have," the brunette spun around with a flourish, a new energy in her eyes, "I'm Eva Dolce, sounds weird but that's who I feel like."

The blonde gave a small wave, "And I'm Shaya Darastrix, nice too meet you."


	8. Chapter 8

Eva and Shaya, they two girls lazed about the giant house while the Valkyrie made them something to eat. Less than a week ago the two were busy being happy and now suddenly they found themselves wrapped up in a wild world they never knew existed while their families think they're dead. Eva cuddled up in the large blanket she was given and nearly purred out her happiness, she was so at peace right now that she couldn't think of anything. Her mind going blank.

"_Some nights I stay up, cashing in my bad luck. Some nights I call it a draw…"_

"But I still wake up, I still feel your ghost."

"I was just singing that in my head."

"I heard."

"How?"

"I don't know, how can you travel to different worlds?"

"Ah-ha, touché," Shaya sat up slightly and looked intriguingly at her friend, "What am I thinking now?"

Eva backed up slightly but couldn't hear anything, she shook her head sadly, "I don't know."

"You heard me before."

"I know but I wasn't thinking before."

"Well don't think now."

"I can't, I've got that song stuck in my head."

"Aw you're no fun."

"Shut up Bec- I mean Shaya."

"Who's hungry?" Valkyrie came out of the kitchen carrying a large tray of assorted foods, or so it looked until she put it in front of the two starving girls.

"Is this McDonalds?"

"When did you get McDonalds?"

"_Thank God for Fletcher."_

"Who's Fletcher?"

Valkyrie backed up slightly, "What?"

"Who's Fletcher?"

"How did you?"

"I heard you. Don't ask because I don't know."

"Ah-huh, he's a friend," she pulled out her phone and held up a finger, "One moment."

She left the room in a hurry, the two not fazed in the least while they ate the fatty food in front of them. Shaya swallowed down a handful of chips before speaking again, "So, how come you heard her then?"

"She was speaking really loudly," Eva chugged down her drink with a noisy gulp, "I don't know how any of this works, and I don't think they do either."

"I wonder who Fletcher is."

"I wonder who China is."

"And Ghastly."

"We know Ghastly."

"Ah, true that."

"We don't know Angle."

"Huh, I think we deserve some answers Eva."

"I think that we shouldn't help them until they help us, they can't control us anymore."

"That's so true‼"

Valkyrie returned with a wonder in her eyes, she sat on the floor opposite the girls and began to stare at Eva, _"Can you hear me?"_

"Yes I can."

"_How abo…"_

"What?"

"Huh…" she got up again and left the room.

The two were left alone and confused, their food nearly gone and a knock at the door. Valkyrie obviously didn't hear it from wherever she was so the two girls gripped each other's hands and went to open it, thinking it was Skulduggery, not expecting what was on the other side. The man from the park smiled hungrily down at them, he had a large blade at his side where his hand should've been, "Hello girls."

"VALKYRIE‼"

They went streaming back inside, hiding behind the furniture and throwing what they hoped were cheap vases and other breakables at the man. He easily dodged their efforts and continued after Eva, eyes hungrily watching her necklace. Shaya poked her head out to check on her friend when a picture frame was sent flying towards her so she merely ducked and screamed again.

"VALKYRIE‼"

Valkyrie came running in on cue, she took one look at the situation before clicking her own fireball and throwing it at the man. He sliced through it and turned his attention to her, he grinned showing off his sharpened teeth, "Miss Valkyrie Cain, I don't know why I expected anyone less."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment," she clicked her fingers again and summoned a bigger flame, "Mr Angle sent you did he?"

"I'm surprised, normally the skeleton detective is quicker off the bat. I guess we're winning then."

"That's what you think."

"It's what I know."

He jumped at her, his sword arm missing her by a hair and slicing straight through the door she had been standing in front. The sturdy wood collapsed inwards with a crash, he swung around as Valkyrie tried to attack him from behind and got sliced across the stomach. She fell to the ground and curled into a ball, an unmoving ball. Eva gave a small yelp at the unmoving body and stared at the man stalking towards her, all her will to move doing nothing in the situation. A hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her to her feet, he snarled at her, "You ran away from my brother, he got in a lot of trouble because of that."

"I'm…I'm sorry?"

"Oh you will be."

"Eva‼" Shaya came flying from the man's side, forcing his hand off her friend and holding her close, "Don't let go of me."

The room vanished from view and they found themselves standing in the middle of a cornfield, it appeared to be far away from any sort of living being. They began to pant heavily as their shock began to disperse into unused adrenaline. Eva wrapped her arms around her friend, "Thank you so, so much."

"Anytime," Shaya hugged her back, "at least we know that you're important."

"I always knew that. How long till we go back?"

"I don't know, this is the first time that I've ever forcibly sent myself somewhere else."

"You're welcome."

Shaya closed her eyes and began to think about her world, back to the house where the furniture had been singed and the door sliced. A wave of white rushed over here as she felt herself pulling Eva through all the dimensions all the way back to their world where they belonged. Eva fell to the floor and began to gasp at the oxygen, Shaya leaned against the wall having exhausted herself from travelling too quickly. While they had been away, for a few minor minutes, Valkyrie had recovered from her 'injury' and taken down the large man with very little effort. She had even started cleaning up when she noticed the two returns, smiling warmly at them when they did, "That was really quick thinking Shaya."

"Thanks, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"You got cut."

"Oh that? No, see these clothes were made by Ghastly and he made them special so things like that won't actually hurt me."

"Can, can we get some of those please?"

"We'll ask him later."

"I'm going to throw up," Eva ran out of the room and into the kitchen, the sound of her bowels coming to the surface echoing back to the living room.

Valkyrie passed Shaya a blanket before sitting her down and hitting redial on her cell phone, "Hey they're back now, do you want to get Skulduggery and bring him here please? It's urgent or you know I wouldn't ask…Just do it already."

A few seconds later a boy with funky looking hair appeared with Skulduggery on his arm, he took one look at the room and smiled to himself, "We can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting attacked."

"Wrong! They weren't after me they were after Eva," she looked at the boy and began to shoo him out of the room, "and she's in the kitchen so go check on her."

"I didn't sign up for this…"

"You signed up when you met us now go."

"Fine, fine. We break up and I'm still taking your orders, I'm such a nice guy."

Skulduggery shook his head before moving over and checking Shaya's vitals, his head shook slightly as he pushed her so she was lying down, "You're not supposed to travel that quickly, that's why you feel sick, remember it for next time."

"Yes sir."


	9. Chapter 9

Skulduggery tapped his fingers impatiently on the interrogation desk, he hated waiting for the bad guys to wake up because it always took too long. The sandy haired man before him remained tied to the chair with a sagging head, it took all of the detective's will and strength not to poke him awake. Luckily the head gave a small groan and lifted against the weighing gravity, his face smirked into a snarl, "Detective Skulduggery Pleasant."

"How do you do?"

"I'm better than you'll be once all this is over."

"Really? You sound very sure of yourself."

"That's because I know, I know more than you do."

"Well since I'm so far behind why don't you enlighten me somewhat."

"You would like that wouldn't you?"

"Yes I would, but if you won't tell me because of that then I most certainly wouldn't. Absolutely not."

"I'll tell you if you tell me."

"What do you want to know?"

"The girl, her name."

"Valkyrie Cain? I thought you had already met."

"The one with the necklace, don't play stupid."

"Simple, Eva Dolce. E.V.A. D.O.L.C.E but pronounced doll-shay," Skulduggery said with an unnecessary explanation of her name.

"Taken name?"

"It most certainly is."

"No matter, now for my end of the deal?"

"I want Angle Smith's location. Where is he?"

"Is that it?" the man roared with laughter, obviously knowing more than he was letting on, "He's working at the docks right now, feel free to drop by and arrest him."

"You're not telling me everything."

"Well, you scratch my back I'll scratch yours."

"How hard to I have to scratch?"

"Hard enough to get me released of all charges."

Skulduggery thought it over for a moment, "I can make that happen."

"And I want the girl to come with me."

"Why are you so fascinated about Eva? Why is she so special?"

"Do we have a deal or not?"

"One moment," Skulduggery left the room with all his self-loved grace, standing outside with the two elders that he trusted, "so what are you two doing for lunch?"

Ghastly gave a small shrug, "Not sure yet, do you want us to watch the girls while you do more 'interrogating'."

"I'm just about done, I just wanted to make polite conversation."

"He wants to get off scot free."

"I remember that . It seems the silly man obviously doesn't know who I am."

Ravel stifled a chuckle as he looked at the waiting criminal, "He's going to shut up soon, see what else you can get out of him and then we'll put him back in the cells."

"You're the boss," Skulduggery walked back into the room, his friendly voice gone stern, "they're willing to compromise as long as you answer a few more questions."

The man gave another roar of laughter, "Hell I'll give you four."

"Deal. Number one; what do you want with Eva?"

"We want her necklace, next."

"Number two; why don't you just kill her and get it that way?"

"Because then we'll have to find another of her kind, two left detective."

"Number three; what does the necklace do?"

"It's a Faceless Ones artefact, one of Angle's finer works."

"Number four; who are you really working for?"

"Someone you don't know."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I did, the same way you handle your cases," the man smirked victoriously, thinking he had won, "now I believe we had a deal detective."

"Indeed we did, but I'm kinda sleepy right now so I'll get around to it tomorrow," Skulduggery got to his feet then placed his hand on his chin in thought, "Come to think of it, we never shook hands and sealed the deal."

"No, we had a deal."

"Goodbye Mister? Actually I don't care what your name is," Skulduggery left the man screaming out angry curses at having being easily fooled, it just made Skulduggery roll his non-existent eyes. He met back up with the two elders and gave them a nod, "That gave us a bit more information about the subject."

"A Faceless Ones artefact isn't a lot of information," Ravel led the three back through the winding halls as cleavers came in to take the sandy haired man away, "nor did we find out who he truly works for. Oh well, at least we can get Angle before he runs off with the answers we want."

Skulduggery thought carefully for a moment, "Speaking of wanting, Eva and Shaya are wanting some clothes from you, Ghastly, ever since they watched Valkyrie protect them. They're fans of your work."

"Oh-no, Ghastly is going to help me do paperwork on what has just happened."

"I think that keeping these girls safe takes priority so we have to go now."

Ravel grunted unhappily as the two split off down a different hallway. Ghastly gave a small sigh of relief once they were well out of earshot, "I owe you one."

"Not that I'm keeping count but I think you owe me five."

"You're the reason I'm an elder, the slate was cleared."

"Then yes you do owe me one."


	10. Chapter 10

_Angle Smith was an unpleasant man, both in appearance and personality. He was short and chubby, balder than an eagle, with large yellow teeth that just wouldn't sit right in his mouth. He liked to dress in grey ragged clothes so he could complain about never having nice things, but everyone tolerated him._

_Why?_

_He had the ability to craft all kinds of objects and trinkets that, fable told, could connect themselves to the Faceless Ones. The undying Gods that had worshipers all over the world so it was no surprise that he was very well worked. He chimed away to the sounds of hammers beating metals and gem, precious stones into attractive looking chunks that could be squeezed into pre made rings or bracelets that wouldn't draw suspicion to his buyers but allow them the closeness the desired to the Faceless Ones. Many thought he was a fraud but he wasn't, he could connect people to the Faceless Ones with his creations because of what he was. The Faceless Ones had come to this world years ago, the detective and Cain sending them back, but he witnessed the whole thing, he saw what power they held and forced him into believing without even trying. He had investigated the scene afterwards and found where they walking their being had mixed into the soil so he took it. He could hear them speaking to him at night as the soil sat under his pillow, they told him how to make these artefacts, they chose him to spread them around, they want him to be the one to bring them back to the world._

_So he couldn't understand why he wasn't protected when the skeleton detective came in with his cronies and shut down his workshop. Or why they weren't there to stop the cleavers from burning down his home. Then there was him. The man watching happily from the shadows as he was dragged away._

_Number 8956-45_

_He ordered a necklace that the Faceless Ones could speak through, just like everyone else, but he did something weird to it. He defaced it by adding his own jewels to it and was thrown out due to blasphemy. But now he stood watching as Angle was dragged away by the detective with a satisfied smirk and a small wave of his hand. He didn't know how but he knew that somehow that man watching from the corner was involved in this arrest, he knew deep down that the man was jealous and that's why this is happening._

_It seemed that the detective couldn't wait to get him back to the sanctuary to start the interrogating, "You have caused a lot of trouble in places you won't even imagine."_

"_I have merely spread the knowledge of the Faceless Ones; I don't take fault about what my customers do with their trinkets. You have nothing to arrest me for."_

"_Actually I do, involving mortals in magical matters. Thanks to you two girls have now had to be removed from their families and I honestly don't see them ever returning."_

"_I'm not at fault."_

"_Because of your work, that is why you are at fault."_

"_You have no proof."_

"_Who do you work for?"_

"_The Faceless Ones."_

"_Who do you work for?"_

"_Your questions are as pointless as your existence," Angle gave a knowing smirk while he got himself comfortable, "soon enough you and Miss Cain will pay for your crimes."_

_An arm came crashing against his windpipe, trapping him against the van wall and crushing his lungs from lack of oxygen, "You won't touch Valkyrie."_

"_No…not me…"his strangled voice rasped, wheels in his head slowly turning, "…an…other…"_

"_Who? I want a name."_

"_No…name…"_

_Skulduggery let him drop but kept the pathetic man at his feet, "So who am I looking for?"_

"_Number 8956-45, the man ordered a necklace from me just like many others but he changed it. He ruined it."_

"_So you know nothing about this man, you just want revenge for him changing what you made."_

"_What I made was PERFECT! A pure crystal, one that held the voices of the Faceless Ones," Angle turned red faced with anger his voice breaking on the edge of screaming, "but HE went and changed it! Corrupted snaked with ruby eyes. He wrapped them around the crystal and ruined its perfectness; the voices will be dulled now. He deserves to suffer but nowhere near as much as you or the Cain girl."_

"_Suddenly I don't feel like hurting you anymore. Thank you Mr Smith for giving me that information."_

_The van pulled to a stop and two cleavers stood waiting at the entrance for orders, Skulduggery simply waved his hand at them and they dragged Angle from his seat without any need for haste. Angle was an unpleasant man and he was going to make sure that everyone in the sanctuary building before him found that out if they were planning on keeping him there._


	11. Chapter 11

Deep blue and the darkest red, those were the two different colours Ghastly chose for the two girls and he had to admit that he was very proud of his work. Shaya had the deep blue; a trench coat that ended at her knees, a sleeveless button up top showing underneath, jean like pants that were still movable in with matching boots very similar to what Valkyrie wore. Eva had the darkest of reds; she had jacket like Valkyrie's, a simple dress that ended at her thighs, jeans like Shaya but had hi-top sneakers instead of boots. The girls loved their new attire especially the fact that the impact wasn't as bad so they stood punching each other with giant smiles on their faces. Shaya got another punch in the chest and began to chuckle, "This is so much fun, Ghastly you're awesome."

"I'm glad that you like it," he packed up his things with a satisfied smile, "I'm sorry about the colours, I wasn't sure what ones that you wanted."

"No they're great, I love this shade."

"Well it seems everything worked out for the best then."

"Shy come here," Eva waved her over before kicking her in the chest, laughing twice as loudly as Shaya when she fell backwards, "that is so much fun‼"

"Quick kick me again."

"Okay‼"

Valkyrie sighed lightly but still held her smile, "You're going to hurt yourselves."

"You're not one to talk, you were fighting a man twice your size."

"I know how to fight."

"Well meh," Shaya sat back down on the still singed couch now bored with hitting and getting hit, "what are we supposed to do now? Wait until someone comes after Eva again?"

"No…"

Skulduggery placed his hat on his head and gave the brim a quick brush, "Actually yes, there is nothing more we can do."

Eva sagged and flopped down next to her worried friend, "Believe it or not but I don't actually like being kidnapped. Are you sure there is no other option for us?"

"No other for you, the rest of us can do as we please."

"Well that's just great…"

Shaya put her arm protectively over her friend and looked at Skulduggery carefully, "But you know who to look for right? You know the bad guy?"

"Of course we do, we're detectives and we know that sort of thing."

"That's good then."

Eva and Shaya missed the worried look shared between Valkyrie and Ghastly as they saw through Skulduggery's lie easily. Their ignorance was bliss. But that didn't stop the questions from arising.

"So who's China?"

"I'm sorry?"

"China," Eva leaned back on the couch and looked at Valkyrie in order to read her facial expressions, "You two were talking about her when you were driving us over here. We want to know who she is and what she did to make you so stiff and angry looking."

Ghastly quickly walked over to the girls as Skulduggery left the room, Valkyrie trailing slowly along behind him, "Listen carefully, you shouldn't mention that name in front of those two. China…she hurt Skulduggery bad and in retrospect also severely hurt Valkyrie, she isn't the kind of person you can trust with anything."

"But what did she do that was so wrong?"

"A various amount of things but all you two need to know is don't mention her name around either of those two. Can I trust you to do that?"

"Yes Mr Bespoke."

"Shaya?"

"Yeah, we promise not to mention it."

"Thank you, now about your abilities…"

"What about them?"

"I've brought some books," he reached into his bag and pulled out a book for each of the girls, just one of the perks of being an Elder meant that he could find resources easily, "Shaya, this book is all about Dimensional Shunters so you might be able to pick up a few things from it, and for Eva this book is all about telepathy."

"Telepathy? As in telekinesis like reading minds and stuff?"

"Yes, both of your girls have rare abilities where there are very few Adepts who have the same abilities as you. All you have to learn off is your own instincts and what's in these books."

Eva opened her book and quickly scanned over one of the pages, telling her to be completely at ease before trying to hear any voices…

"_I really hope Skulduggery finds this guy before the girls realise he was lying."_

"SKULDUGGERY LIED‼"

"Oh dear."

Eva grabbed Shaya in a wild panic since her friend didn't know what was going on, "Skulduggery doesn't know who's after me, which means lots of bad, bad things."

"Why would he lie?"

"I don't know but I am freaking out right now."

"I can see that…"

"_Kill the non-believers."_

"Oh my God!" Eva started tugging at her necklace as the voices returned after days of peace, "I want this off me now‼"

Shaya gave a small yelp and held the book out to Ghastly's face, "Why does it say that Dimensional Shunters die when going to different dimensions? I can't control what I do! Am I going to die?"

"That's it; I'm cutting my neck off right now. Where's the cleaver?"

"I'm going to die, at any moment I'm going to die…"

Ghastly backed up to the doorway just as Skulduggery and Valkyrie returned, he gave them both a quick nod as he ran out the door. The two detectives looked at the two girls before them and groaned in displeasure, they were in for a lot of trouble unless they could find a way to calm them down.


End file.
